Bank robbers leave money trail; some customers grab cash

Tue, 01/12/2010 - 12:21pmBen Nelms

Fayetteville police are still searching for two armed men who robbed the Bank of America at Ga. Highway 314 and New Hope Road near the Fayette Pavilion early Saturday afternoon. Investigators are also hoping that so-far unnamed customers who picked up some of the stolen money in the parking lot will contact police.

The suspects in the robbery were described as black males wearing black “hoodie” sweatshirts and masks, police said. One of the suspects was described “heavyset” at approximately 200 pounds while the other suspect was smaller, police said. Both men were armed with handguns, according to reports.

Fayetteville police spokesperson Steve Crawshaw said the two men displayed handguns and ordered everyone to get on the floor. After robbing the bank, the two men fled the area on foot with two bags containing an undisclosed amount of money, Crawshaw said.

One of the bags of cash was dropped one block away to the west near the intersection of Burnside Drive, leaving some money scattered on the ground and the bag lying in the roadway on Burnside Drive.

Police also employed tracker dogs to try to pick up the robbers’ trail.

Crawshaw said some of the money was recovered in the parking lot by police, with surveillance video showing that money was also picked up by customers in the parking lot.

Police are reviewing video to identify the robbers, witnesses and customers who recovered money, Crawshaw said.

Anyone that has any information or that recovered any of the money is asked to contact the Fayetteville Police Department at 770-461-4441.

The same Bank of America branch was robbed Aug. 15 and police several weeks later made an arrest in that case.

The Bank of America branch on Ga. Highway 85 and Banks Road was robbed Dec. 1.